Homemade Tater Tots
November 29th, 2011
I am a little in shock right now. I did something crazy. And it involved deep frying.
My terrible weakness for over feeding people left me with a about a gallon of leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving.
When I thought about the many, many possibilities for leftover mashed potatoes, I couldn’t help but think about little fried nuggets of creamy goodness, because who doesn’t think about deep frying soft starch? Right?
While I made a big plate of these to eat by themselves in the middle of the day, these would be delicious in the summer with burgers or served with a hot slice of meatloaf on a cozy night!
I personally made The lovely Ree Drumond’s Mashed Potatoes on Thanksgiving. (OMG by the way.) But whatever type of mashed potatoes are your favorite- whip em up.
You add some eggs and flour to bind the potatoes and then they are rolled in crispy breadcrumbs before being deep fried to a golden brown. These were unbelievably good, and as I write this I have a sick tummy ache from eating way too much….
Homemade Tater Tots, makes 4 dozen
-3 cups mashed potatoes, chilled
-2 eggs, beaten
-½ cup flour
-Kosher salt
-3 cups panko bread crumbs
-4 cups vegetable oil
1) In a medium bowl mix together the cold mashed potatoes and the beaten eggs.
2) Mix the flour in. season with a little salt.
3) Drop by the spoonful into a bowl of panko crumbs.
4) Gently press the panko into the soft potato “tots.”
5) Place them on a sheet pan covered in a sheet of wax paper.
6) Heat a small pot of oil to between 350-375 degrees.
7) Gently drop the tater tots into the hot oil and fry for about 1-2 minutes until they are hot and golden.
8) Pull the tater tots from the hot oil with a strainer and gently place on a paper towel to drain.
9) Sprinkle lightly with Kosher salt.
10) Serve hot with ketchup and enjoy!
Cool! I used to love these as a kid. So tasty!
3:39 am on November 29th, 2011
YUM!!! I looooove this!! It reminds me of croquettes [Koroke in japanese] that my mommy used to make us! *sigh* those were the good ol’ days. ;-) What a fabulous idea!!!
8:35 am on November 29th, 2011
SERIOUSLY THESE LOOK DELICIOUS! WE MAKE POTATO PANCAKES WITH LEFTOVERS BUT THESE ? DEEP FRIED? HAVE TO BE SO GOOD. MORE ON MY LIST TO TRY. THANK YOU!
8:44 am on November 29th, 2011
Oh wow!!! So much “healthier” than the ones in a bag with a zillion preservatives. Do you think I could make them into little patties and pan fry?
8:46 am on November 29th, 2011
yes- obviously I tried that out too! and they are just as delicious!
9:09 am on November 29th, 2011
I was at the Seahawks game on Sunday, and my sis and I ordered taters (which weren’t very good), and I realized this was something I really should learn to make. It’s like you heard me calling for a recipe from the stadium… Thank you for posting this!
9:22 am on November 29th, 2011
Josh is going to LOVE these!
10:44 am on November 29th, 2011
I love this idea – I wonder if they could be frozen in batches to then bake to reheat at a later date?
10:54 am on November 29th, 2011
It seems like they would do really well reheated in the oven.
12:57 pm on November 29th, 2011
OMG.
You know, an occasional deep fried dish is TOTALLY called for.
1:17 pm on November 29th, 2011
Oh, my! I These sound just incredible. Have to try them soon.
1:44 pm on November 29th, 2011
o.O I can’t possibly process this much simple starch and deep fried glory! Mentally anyway. I could unceremoniously scarf down about 20 of these and be perfectly content.
1:47 pm on November 29th, 2011
Yes please! This is just too good to pass up. I am also curious about their freeze-ability.
1:51 pm on November 29th, 2011
Yikes – these looks soo good!
2:02 pm on November 29th, 2011
I really got the feeling that they would freeze really well! They were SO crispy, it is hard to imagine that they wouldn’t just heat up really well.
2:20 pm on November 29th, 2011
I now know that is about how many I can take down :)
2:20 pm on November 29th, 2011
thats what I keep telling myself :)
2:20 pm on November 29th, 2011
Wow, I guess I should have kept the leftovers for a few more days before throwing them out. My family doesn’t do well with leftovers. Thanks for a yummy future recipe.
6:34 pm on November 29th, 2011
Don’t you think these would make the perfect middle of the night snack?
7:03 pm on November 29th, 2011
Loved them as a child and crave them as an adult. I am pretty sure the grandchildren would love them and especially making them.
7:17 pm on November 29th, 2011
Wholly &*(*&!! I would take your amazing looking homemade tots any day.
7:47 pm on November 29th, 2011
yes I do. Although it would be a little sketchy to fire up the deep fryer in my pj’s :)
8:25 pm on November 29th, 2011
Oh, my, how we loved tater tots in my family when we were growing up! This recipe looks like a great take on them and a fab way to use up leftovers!
7:21 am on November 30th, 2011
Ok, I held off as long as I could by not clicking the link to this post. But here I am. And OMG – those taters look amazing!! Want!
1:20 pm on November 30th, 2011
What a smart and delicious idea. I bet your kiddos adored these!
4:24 pm on November 30th, 2011
I am not showing these to my sons… uh uh… but I think I am definitely going to have to make them for them… they look too scrumptious not to!!
9:40 am on December 1st, 2011
You’re killing us here! These look awesome. I cannot imagine making these fast enough so that I actually would have enough to feed my family. I’d be eating them all as soon as they came out of the oil.
10:14 am on December 1st, 2011
I did too. And now I have burnt tongue. watch out!
10:16 am on December 1st, 2011
Stumbled these the other night and knew I had to try them. Such a great idea and they tasted so good. My kids loved them!
5:32 pm on December 2nd, 2011
I’m not a big tator tot or french fry person for that matter, but I do love how you used leftover mashed potatoes and then rolled them in panko. I’m sure the panko made them very crispy on the outside. Great idea!
6:33 pm on December 2nd, 2011
Homemade tater tots? Yes, please!
8:14 am on December 3rd, 2011
those look so good. thanks for sharing
1:15 pm on December 7th, 2011
Nice and lovely idea! Would be fun to do with childrens.
3:34 am on December 8th, 2011
These looks so good. I plan on making these this weekend.
10:56 am on December 8th, 2011
Love them! They are cooking now!
but will the inside be okay to eat, since it’s raw eggs?
12:25 pm on December 8th, 2011
yes! it will cook in the hot oil!
4:35 pm on December 8th, 2011
I have cooked something like this before, mine used cornmeal. Very good and I am sure yours is just as good. I shall try them nest time our grandchildren are here.
1:43 pm on December 9th, 2011
[...] Homemade Tater Tots | Heather Christo Cooks I personally made The lovely Ree Drumond’s Mashed Potatoes on Thanksgiving. (OMG by the way.) [...]
8:45 am on December 10th, 2011
[...] got Homemade Tater Tots from Heather Christo for you. Sounds much better than the frozen food [...]
3:04 am on December 11th, 2011
This looks like a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes.
4:43 am on December 11th, 2011
Holy smokes! This looks so good I’m going to make mashed potatoes for the sole purpose of making these golden beauties.
6:48 pm on December 11th, 2011
While these look great, they’re really more like mashed potato croquettes. I think the shredded texture and the nooks and crannies of a Tater Tot is kind of key to the experience…
2:43 pm on December 12th, 2011
Just fry them in Coconut oil, and you don’t have to worry about polyunsaturated fats which are not so healthy at all. with Coconut oil, no problem.
7:45 am on December 14th, 2011
I think this is the most amazing recipe I have ever found on Foodgawker. Thank you for sharing.
8:48 am on December 14th, 2011
AHHHH! WHAT a compliment!! Thanks Yadsia!
9:07 am on December 14th, 2011
[...] Homemade Tater Tots | Heather Christo Cooks My terrible weakness for over feeding people left me with a about a gallon of leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving. When I thought about the many, many possibilities for leftover mashed potatoes, I couldn’t help but think about little fried nuggets of creamy goodness, because who doesn’t think about deep frying soft starch? Right? I am a little in shock right now. I did something crazy. And it involved deep frying. [...]
1:11 pm on December 14th, 2011
[...] I personally made The lovely Ree Drumond’s Mashed Potatoes on Thanksgiving. Homemade Tater Tots | Heather Christo Cooks [...]
11:58 am on December 15th, 2011
so good! i followed the recipe to a T, but actually baked instead of fried (not for any silly dietary reason, i was just out of oil and cravin some tots) and they were delicious. i can only imagine how amazing they’d be fried!
5:04 pm on January 19th, 2012
is there a way you can just bake these? dont get me wrong love deep fried anything, but i cant have it.
8:59 am on January 13th, 2013
[...] rarely get the “there’s nothing to eat”. In addition, having granola bars, frozen homemade tater tots, and lots and lots of sweet and savory nuts like these, fills their bellies up with something [...]
9:59 am on March 11th, 2013